Grim Reapers Halo 3 story
by Grimmy 6
Summary: If you can think of a good title for this story, post it in the reviews. New chapter now out! Chapter 6: 'Bringing out the big guns.' Things are starting to heat up now as the covenant assault earth. Get ready for some action...
1. Prologue

Prologue.

2022 hours, August 30 2552

Epsilon Eridani System.

'Thud.'

As his Mjolnir armor collided with titanium plating, the Spartan awoke from his uneasy slumber. James had long since given in to the fact that this system would take his life. He had less then 6 hours of oxygen left and was free floating in a system now overrun by the enemy. Even a Spartan could not fight his way out of this battle. As the Spartan floated, awaiting his death, he had drifted into an uneasy slumber, thinking of his training, his fellow Spartans and his now glassed home planet of reach. He would have killed to be doing another one of CPO Mendez's training exercises again. He was remembering the moment he had been swept into space, the tumbling action he had been sent into, the brief flashes and transmissions from John as his head collided with something and he found himself awake, staring into the black rift that was the Eridani System.

He used the object to spin himself around and found it was a piece of debris, a large titanium shard. But it was what was behind the debris that scared him. A small group of phantoms, 3 or 4 large, slowly came into view through gaps in the field of light debris. James powered down all systems of his Mjolnir armor except for life support and hid in the debris. With any luck the covenant would pass through without noticing him. It was a strange sight seeing a group of phantoms fly past and make no noise. He had never encountered one outside of an atmosphere before and it was eerie. 4 large ships flew past and not a single sound was heard. As they flew past, James let out the breath that he was holding. With his primary threat gone, he scanned the debris field he was in. He had to find more air. Fast.

After restoring power to his more vital systems, James aimed up and pushed off from the titanium shard he had clung to and floated slowly towards another large piece of A-Class titanium plating. From there he progressively floated closer towards his target, the shell of a Destroyer, torn in half by the powerful plasma weapons, he hoped he had picked the correct half of the ship. If he could not find oxygen supplies he was royally screwed. As he moved towards the rear of the ship he could see the word _"Minotaur." _He quickly remembered it as the ship that had been torn apart by the new covenant plasma beam. As the Spartan floated closer and closer to the hull he saw the extent of the damage. The laser had cut through the destroyer like a hot knife through butter, splitting the ship from top to bottom down the middle. James made contact with the ship and slowly crept along its outer plating towards the extent of the damage. As he got closer to the split, he noticed that the armor was melted and disfigured. Whatever the weapon that did it was, it was powerful, too powerful for any UNSC ships to withstand.

James made his way to where the weapon had struck and saw the devastation up close. Corridors, cryo-bays and hangars had all been cut clean in half by the sheer heat of the laser. The Spartan climbed in and found himself in a corridor. He was amazed to see that the backup power generators were still working and further down the corridor where the lights were not melted, the ship was dimly lit. He made his way to the end of the corridor and found himself at a sealed door. He punched in an opening sequence into the controls, the door did not budge. He spent another 15 minutes trying every sequence he could think of until he gave up and slumped to the floor. The ship was shut down tight. James jumped as he heard a male voice behind him. 'Need a hand?'

James pushed off from the wall and put himself into a roll as he unholstered his pistol. As he made it to the opposite wall he paused, his M6D directly pointed at the location of where the voice had sounded. The corridor was blank. He saw a flicker in the corner of his vision and turned to see the holographic image of the ships AI on a small pedestal next to the door controls.

'Greetings Spartan,' it said. 'Please wait while I depressurise the adjacent corridor.' James heard a sucking sound from behind the door and it opened. 'Right this way said the AI. I am Preston, the onboard AI for the Minotaur, and you are?' asked the AI curiously. 'Uh, James,' replied the Spartan. The door behind him closed and the AI depressurized the corridor. 'Finally, solid ground,' thought James.

'Where are you taking me?' he asked.

'To meet the others,' replied Preston.

'The others?' the Spartan replied inquisitively.

'The other survivors. The Minotaurs secondary systems are still online. There are several personnel surviving in this half of the ship. They are stationed in Pelican bay 12 and the adjacent armouries. These sections still have adequate supplies and oxygen to contain our small group of survivors.'

As James entered the Pelican bay he made a quick assessment. The small group of survivors turned out to be 8 people, 4 marines, 2 engineers, a pilot and a medic. They had the hangar secured nicely, cameras had been set up around the outside of the ship and were being monitored by Preston, marines had been posted in the corridors leading up to the hangar and the remaining entrances had been shut down tight by Preston.

'Welcome aboard sir,' said Pvt Moore, one of the marines on guard at the entrance James had come through. James returned the salute and promptly began asking questions on the groups' dire situation.

'Who's in charge?' he asked the private.

'Major Lansen sir, he's in the armoury.'

As James made his way to the armoury, he noticed the 2 engineers working on a longsword fighter. He wasn't sure what they were doing but it looked like they were preparing an escape vessel for the group. He made his way through the bay into the adjacent armoury and soon found himself face to face to Lansen, who was just leaving the armoury with a crate full of weapons.

'Sir,' saluted Lansen as he quickly dropped the box.

He was a fighter, James could tell. Big arms, tattoos, scars. He had ODST written all over him.

'Major,' James returned the salute.

'Glad to have you aboard sir, we could use the help.'

James nodded as the Major picked up the box of weapons and signalled for James to walk with him.

'When the ship got hit, it split clean down the middle. The bow got hit and pretty much disintegrated, all the command staff were on the bridge. Seems like it's just us left now. We began preparations for escape the moment we left. Probably won't get far in the longsword but we cant just sit around and wait for those squid heads to capture us. Our plan so far is to rig the Pelly to a remote and send that out as a distraction, guns a-blazing. The only patrol in these areas is a group of phantoms and occasionally a seraph or 2. Getting past should be a breeze.'

James nodded again as he took the information in. Didn't sound simple to him but anything would be better then sitting around, waiting for the covies to blow them all up.

James spent the next 3 days there in preparation for their cunning escape, stockpiling weapons and supplies, rigging a few gauss rifles from damaged warthogs to the top of the longsword. If they were chased, this was about as much defence as they had. That and the fact the Petty Officer Thomas was the best pilot on board the Minotaur in its prime.

The patrolling phantoms had increased in the past 2 days and James could not help the feeling that their presence was not unnoticed. The group was now on edge, Preston had made brief sightings of elites in jetpacks around the outside of the hull, at one instance, footsteps were heard from the outside of the hangar door. They had to leave soon. The ships were finally ready and final preparations were being made when the bad news came from Preston. Covie patrol teams had been sent to investigate. They were currently making their way through the ship towards the groups position and the only thing stopping them were the sealed doors. These were little hindrance anyway as the covenant arsenal was vastly superior and it would take them minutes to blow these doors open and move on. Preston had calculated that the patrols would be at the hangar within half an hour. The debate whether to fight the patrols or board the longsword and leave was brought to an abrupt end when Preston announced that a pair of Phantoms were stationed outside the hangar doors. James had son devised a plan and the group had all climbed into the longsword. 2 lotus anti-tank mines had been placed on the nose of the pelican and the pelican was rigged to be remote controlled by Preston, who was now aboard the Longswords mainframe. Preston was watching as the covenant began cutting through the hangar doors. James's plan was soon to take action. The countdown begun until the flood of covenant began swarming into the bay. 15 seconds, James could hear the sounds of 8 other hearts rapidly beating. 10 seconds, he saw Major Lansen grip the MA5B slung over his shoulder. 5 seconds, Thomas's hands gripped tighter on the throttle as she made ready.

Boom! The doors flew open and the plan flew into action as the covenant swarmed in and plasma burns scorched the hulls of both the pelican and the longsword. The engines began to hum as Preston began the plan. Slowly, from the view port of the longsword, the group watched as the large hangar doors began to open. The sound of plasma weapons stopped as the covenant warriors were sucked out of the chamber and into the abyss of space. The Pelican took off, as did the longsword, splitting apart as the longsword made for an escape and the pelican made the diversion. It flew straight at the Phantoms outside. They tried to move but were not quick enough as the pelican collided with one and the lotus mines exploded. The explosion of the Pelican, the mines and the Phantom was enough to engulf the other Phantom and they all blew to pieces.

The longsword jetted off at full speed, leaving the explosion and the UNSC Minotaur long behind.


	2. Chapter 1: 'Allies anyone'

Chapter 1

'Allies anyone?'

Delta Halo

Ninth Age of Reclamation

As his plasma sword entered Tartarus's chest, the Arbiter felt satisfaction and revenge flood through his veins. The brute truly had paid for his treachery against the Sangheili. As cheers erupted from his fellow Elites, the Arbiter took a moment to reflect on the situation. 'This would be the 1st of many Sangheili victories' he thought. The Jiralhanae would surely pay for the blood they have spilt. The brute fell to the ground, blood spewed forth from the wound and life left his eyes. For Tartarus, the great journey was over.

Ten minutes later as the Arbiter looked around his phantom, he mused at the fact that the 2 humans travelled with him. These people once were his sworn enemies. But after seeing the courage and honour these humans fought with, he silently vowed never to bring harm to one again. The Arbiter had noticed the similarities between the humans and his Sangheili's. They fought with honour, courage and loyalty, they were willing to die for a cause, and they were ruthless. The Arbiter watched as the humans whispered to each other. They were obviously puzzled by the change of events as well as the fact that they were currently on board a covenant dropship full of Elites.

'So, you mind telling us where were goin?' asked the male human.

'Patience human,' replied the Arbiter calmly. 'We are going to the Elite headquarters.'

'And where might that be?'

'Aboard the Merciful Shadow.'

The merciful shadow was a covenant flagship, one of the few survivors from the battle above high charity against the traitorous Brutes. As the prophets declared the war, fighting had broken out inside the ships. The elites had captured a bit less then half of the ships but survived as the Prophets fleet entered slipspace to attack earth. The Sangheili fleet had then mopped up the survivors and elected a flagship, the Merciful Shadow, to control the actions of the fleet.

As the arbiter looked out the viewports of the Phantom, he could see the flagship slowly growing closer, soon covering the entire viewport. They passed the security checks and proceeded to dock. The Arbiter departed first to loud cheers from the Sangheili and Unggoy crowded into the large docking bay. Even a few Lekgolo pairs had come to see their new leader return, standing at the back of the crowd yet clearly able to see the Arbiter over the mass of troops. The cheering stopped as quickly as it had begun as Sergeant Johnson and Captain Miranda Keyes emerged from the dropship. An awkward silence filled the large docking bay from corner to corner as hundreds of pairs of eyes suspiciously watched the pair trail the Arbiter. The moment the trio had left the bay, chatter broke out among the Unggoy, curious as to why the enemy was on board their own flagship. The chatter slowly died down as the Sangheili ordered the Unggoy back to work and the docking bay slowly returned to its normal procedure.

The Arbiter strolled down the passageways of his new flagship, the two humans behind him almost jogging to keep up with his long strides. As he passed a large window he slowed and peered out of it, making sure everything was going to plan. This window looked out into a large bay where a smaller ship was parked, a hundred or so engineers working on the gaping holes and plasma scorches that freckled its hull. The Arbiter returned to his full stride until he reached the main corridor. It was large, about 5 metres high, 10 metres from wall to wall and rounded like all covenant ships. He stopped and gestured the humans to come closer, pointing out the door at the end of the corridor that led to the Bridge. He gestured to a smaller door on the right wall of the corridor.

'This room will be your quarters,' the Arbiter said. 'I hope they will be suitable for your err, stature.'

The rooms had been created for Sangheili, these humans were almost a metre shorter.

'Thankyou Arbiter,' saluted Captain Keyes.

The Arbiter hesitantly returned the crude hand gesture and they went their separate ways, the humans entering their quarters and the Arbiter heading towards the Bridge.

As he entered the bridge, the crew bowed to one knee. Taken aback by the show of support, the arbiter ordered the command to resume duties before he made his way to the intercom station and ordered Captain Nekomaree to the bridge. Once the leader of all Elite Special Forces and Spec Ops, Nekomaree had been elected by the Arbiter as his new general. Now he and the arbiter had to discuss where to go from here, the turn of events had been most sudden and the Arbiter still couldn't quite believe his own situation. He had gone from being the most hated figure in the covenant, a heretic to being the leader of their new covenant. As Nekomaree entered the bridge, he spotted the Arbiter and hurried to meet him.

'Greetings Arbiter,' said the Captain, extending a hand for the Arbiter.

'Its good to see you captain,' replied the arbiter, accepting his hand and shaking it. 'Walk with me Captain' said the Arbiter leaving the Bridge the way he had come and gesturing for the Captain to follow. He started out by pointing out the two humans quarters and sternly making the point that they were not to be harmed under any circumstance.

'Now Captain, onto more pressing matters,' the arbiter said, his tone becoming serious. 'I have elected you as my new General, you will command our fleets in battle and lead our new covenant to victory over the traitors. It is our job to see that this covenant does not fail, it cannot for the survival of all sentient life depends on us. Firstly we must concentrate on High Charity, we must either rid the city of the flood or destroy it completely. We cannot risk their escape no matter the cost. What are your views Captain?' asked the Arbiter, turning to the Sangheili next to him.

'Ah yes, High Charity,' pondered Nekomaree. 'Complete flood extermination is a near impossible feat, in my opinion I think we should search the city for any survivors then destroy it. The flood leader is there to and with any luck we may destroy him too.'

'Very well Captain, assemble a task force to lead the search for survivors, have ships ready to blow the city the moment you leave.' The arbiter turned swiftly and walked away. Slowing suddenly he turned around.

'Oh and Captain,' called the Arbiter.

'Yes Arbiter?' asked the Captain.

'If you recover the demon, do not harm him. He may be of use in this fight.'

He turned on his heel and left for the bridge.

'You mind telling me what your doing on that ship?' Admiral Hood asked the chief.

'Sir, finishing this fight,' replied Spartan 117 as he clung to the wall of the forerunner vessel he was on. 'Aboard this ship is the prophet of truth, the leader of the covenant. Focus all your attacks on the other craft, this ship must reach the ground if we are to capture the Prophet alive.'

'Understood Master Chief,' replied Admiral Hood. There was a brief pause before the Admiral spoke again.

'You're about to enter orbit chief, sit tight and hold on. Your squad will meet you groundside.'

'Understood sir' replied the Spartan.

He turned and headed for the door, his M90 in hand. He had no idea what part of the ship he was in or how to get to the bridge. The only info he had on the ship was that there was a small, unused cargo bay in this area of the ship, the room he was in. He moved to exit the room and the door automatically opened. He examined the next room and found he was in a long, dimly lit corridor. He made a quick sweep of the corridor with his M90 before heading down the corridor to the right. As he made his way down the corridor, wary of enemy patrols, he came to a large window overlooking a massive room, one of the biggest he had ever seen. It was full of brutes, jackals, drones and grunts all milling around the weapons racks that had been placed along the walls. Master Chief watched as the brutes pushed to the front, smashing grunts and jackals alike in their efforts to get the best weapons. Elsewhere, brutes were donning their head plates and honour guard armor. John left the window and moved further along the corridor. As he made his way along it he noticed it was curving to the left, circling the huge room. There were more windows looking into the room, one every 50 metres or so. The ship began to shake slightly as it entered the atmosphere and the Spartan ducked into a room on the right wall, searching for something to hold on to. The room was tiny, leading to another door. On the floor there was a picture of a barred door followed by forerunner runes. Judging from the picture, this was the ships brig.

He raised his shotgun and moved forward, triggering the door to auto-open. Whatever the brute on the other side of the door was expecting, it was not the demon. Its momentary shock was all the time John needed to raise his M90 and pull the trigger, less then a metre from the brute's head. It went down instantly, a dull thud sounding as its lifeless form hit the floor. He procured the brute's plasma rifle before moving further into the room. As he looked around he saw barred doors everywhere, 3 floors of them. Behind each door was an elite or a grunt. His scanning was cut short as he heard a roar from the other end of the chamber. A group of 5 or so brutes had entered the chamber from the far entry. They had also spotted him. He turned and ran for a pillar, grenades from brute shots flying all around him. As he made the pillar he thought of something he could do here. 5 brutes against one Spartan. Even with his inhuman abilities, he didn't stand a chance. He had to even the odds.

He ran for a ramp and dived onto it, making his way up to the second floor. As he ran, Elites and grunts awoke in their cells and made their way to the doors. As he made his way to the end of the room he spotted an elite in white armor, standing behind a cell door. He ran to the door, opened it and grabbed the shocked Elite.

'Think you can help me?' asked the Spartan. The elite looked him up and down, sizing him up before replying.

'Very well demon, I will kill you at a later date.'

'Don't count on it,' said John as he threw the brutes plasma rifle into the Elites hands. 'Follow me.'

The two warriors ran, avoiding carbine and brute shot fire and made their way to the 3rd floor.

'Go help your friends.' said the Spartan, signalling to the cells lining the wall.

The Elite nodded and began his way along the wall, ignoring a grunts cry for freedom. He made his way to the far end of the platform and began inspecting each cell, ignoring wounded soldiers and grunts. He freed two Elites who immediately began making their way around the 3rd floor, freeing others. Soon enough, Master Chief was in the company of 9 elites and a hunter, most of which were unarmed. He threw one of the elites his M6D magnum before setting off back down the ramp towards the bottom floor. The brutes had positioned themselves around the bottom floor, killing prisoners and taking cover in their cells. The bottom floor was the only way in and out of the brig; the Chief and his new squad had a problem.

Anko Pedaloree looked on at the chief curiously. Why was he on this ship? Why had he trusted Anko or any of the other Sangheili for that matter? This warrior, this 'Demon' was the most feared human in the galaxy, why did he not just kill them all? Anko could tell the demon was edgy; he had allied himself with his former enemies and did not know the extent of their loyalty. It was almost as if he was expecting plasma bolts to come hurtling at the back of his head at any second. But Anko knew the Sangheili would not harm him, there was no need now the prophets had betrayed them. There would be no 'great journey' to take part in by killing the demon. There would be no glory. As Anko snapped back to his senses he noticed the Demon had already begun the descent to the bottom floor where the elites waited. The Sangheili followed him, using the platform he was on as cover. There were 2 ramps leading to the bottom floor and Anko and the only other armed Sangheili took the far one. They watched as the Demon made his way to the ramp opposite them, walked around the ramp and laid himself flat on the platform. He made a few brief hand signals to the elite who was with him and the elite nodded before shouting a battle cry and throwing one of the human's explosive grenades down the ramp towards the Jiralhanae. It exploded, showering the brutes with shrapnel as they took cover. They roared in frustration but did not budge from their positions. They were disciplined for Jiralhanae. The demon signalled to the elite and he pulled the pin on another explosive, throwing it down the ramp again. It exploded right next to a Jiralhanae, riddling him with shrapnel. The brutes cursed at the death of their squad mate and charged towards the ramp, their anger overcoming their discipline. As they reached the bottom of the ramp, the demon pulled 2 plasma grenades from his belt and armed them before sliding forward, hanging upside down from the platform and stuck the explosives to 2 more of the Jiralhanae. They screamed in rage as the adhesive grenades stuck to their bodies. There was a split second of eerie silence before the grenades exploded, turning the brutes to soup. The remaining 2 scurried back towards a cell and hid behind their previous barricades. Anko and his partner ran down the ramp they were at and emerged directly opposite the cell the Jiralhanae were hiding in. The Brutes spotted the pair of Sangheili and immediately started firing in their direction. Anko hid behind a pillar as he remembered he no longer had energy shielding, meaning 1 lucky shot from the enemy could kill him. He edged around the pillar until he could see the barricades the Brutes were behind. He watched the demon make his way down the ramp and throw his last Plasma grenade onto the barricades. The cornered Jiralhanae shouted and moved back from their hiding spot. The moment the barricades blew, Anko, his partner and the 2 Brutes opened fire. Anko burst from behind the pillar and opened fire. The two brutes aimed their fire at him as he ran across the room. A carbine round hit him in the shoulder and he screamed with pain, firing his plasma rifle inaccurately at the Brutes. He saw a bolt of plasma hit one in the arm, making it drop its gun before the other shot another carbine round into Anko's chest and he fell to the ground. He felt his life; along with his blood leave his body and felt his vision start to fade. The gunfire had stopped and he attempted to lift his head only to find it was too heavy.

'Avenge….me…….demon.' said the elite as the life faded from his body. John closed the dead elites eyes and stepped back as the other elites crowded around, uttering prayers for their fallen comrade.

The Spartan then scavenged the Brutes weapons and threw them to various elites.

'Everyone with weapons follow me, everyone else, free the rest of the prisoners. I have a plan.'


	3. Chapter 2: ‘Coincidence? I think not!’

Chapter 2.

'Coincidence? I think not!'

0900 hours, September 4 2552

Epsilon Eridani System.

The group sat in darkness, chillingly silent. For the last three days, they had watched helplessly as the covenant had glassed their homes, killed their families, friends and anyone else still on reach. They had started with the poles, slowly turning the planet into a glowing molten ball. The covenant had now all but finished their destruction of the human colony, through the view ports in the longsword, James could see covenant ships stationed around the planet, bombarding it mercilessly. As the longsword drifted lifelessly through space, James saw a covenant flagship exit slipspace, a distance from the other craft. He watched the behemoth move towards the other ships as the other ships turned to face it. 'Another enemy,' thought James feeling helpless.

'What the hell?' shouted Lansir suddenly.

James jumped to his feet and followed Lansirs gaze. The flagship he had been watching no more then 30 seconds ago had opened fire on its allies, covenant cruisers and frigates being decimated by some kind of laser weapon the ship had. The group crowded around the view port, silent and in awe, watching the battle as the Flagship destroyed its own ships.

'Preston, what's going on?' Asked Thomas.

'Not sure,' replied Preston. 'The ship seems to have failed identification checks. The comm links on this vessel are too weak to pick up anything from such a great distance.'

'Dammit.' Replied Thomas as she slumped back into her pilot's chair.

James turned quietly and paced the length of the cockpit. Questions flew through his mind. Who was in that ship? Why was it firing at its own ships? What had happened to the rest of his squad? Had John and Linda completed their mission? His brain overflowed with these questions, questions he could not answer. He sat back in the corner and, with the silence of the group, drifted into an uneasy slumber.

Three days later, Reach was just a glowing speck in the distance, after what seemed like an age, the Longsword had finally made it to the outer reaches of the eridani system. James knew action had to be taken, knew that their supplies were starting to fade, although he didn't want to tell the group that. They had been drifting for almost a week with no contact or action from the outside world. The covenant flagship had entered slip-space soon afterwards and the group had returned to their usual routines, monitoring comm. Channels, exercise, rationing food and sleeping. Today however was different.

'Incoming enemy,' said Preston through the loud speaker on the ship. 'Shutting down all systems.'

'No,' said James. 'Its time to take the plunge.'

'Your not backing out on us are you son?' asked Lansir gruffly.

'With all do respect sir, what other option do we have? We have less then a weeks supplies left and there's nowhere for us to run. Preston, what sort of ship is it? Asked James.

'A scouting ship, small, could be a frigate.' Replied Preston.

'Ok people, saddle up,' said Lansir. 'Thomas, turn us around and give me a bearing at that frigate, we got us a plane to catch.'

'What exactly do you have in mind sir?' said Thomas as she got to her feet.

'Oh you'll see, don't you worry about that.'

'Arbiter,' said Captain Nekomaree, as he made his way into the bridge. 'The strike force is ready sir.'

'Very good Captain, you have done well.' Replied the Arbiter curtly. 'The humans have requested to join the force Captain, they wish to search for the demon.'

'Hmmm, very well Arbiter, but I doubt even the human could have survived without help down there. We have detected small pockets of resistance in flagship bay 12 as well as Phantom hangars 9 and 17. They appear to be Sangheili Arbiter.'

The Arbiter stood in thought for a moment before replying.

'Make haste my friend, our brethren fall with each passing hour.'

'Yes sir' said Nekomaree and hurried from the bridge.

The Arbiter exited the bridge soon after, heading for the human's quarters. These humans were skilful warriors and good tacticians; he could use them in the planning of such an assault. He reached the chamber and knocked twice before entering.

The female was curled up in a corner, resting on a low bed originally designed for an Unggoy. The male, however was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, a small projectile weapon aimed at the Arbiters face.

'Not a good idea, human.' Said the Arbiter smartly.

The human lowered the weapon and got to his feet.

'Any news on the strike force?' asked the human as the female awoke and rose behind him.

'The force will be departing shortly, that is why I am here. If you are still willing to partake in this operation, I suggest you make ready.'

'Got all I need right here,' said the human pointing to a bag on the floor. He lifted it and removed two slightly larger projectile weapons, almost plasma rifle sized. The female knelt down and took two small pistols from the bag.

'Ready when you are Arbiter Sir,' she said with a salute.

'Follow me then,' said the Arbiter as he turned around and strode out of the chamber.

Sgt Johnson picked up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he left the room, jogging to catch up with the Arbiter and Commander Keyes.

'Remind me again why were taggin' along on their little expedition Commander?' mused the sergeant as he caught up with Keyes.

'The last time we heard from Cortana and the Master Chief, they were on high charity. Assuming they are still there, the Chief wouldn't be one to go willingly if the Elites came for him, even on a rescue mission. We have to find him and inform him of this new… treaty.'

'Piece of cake,' replied Johnson smugly.

'Sergeant, you do know that high charity is roughly the size of earths moon?' Queried the Commander.

'Meh, we'll just have to look for the action. That's where the chief normally is.' Replied the Sergeant.

'Come humans we must hurry, the ships are almost ready. We will be on the leading ship,' said the Arbiter. 'We must clear a landing zone for the rest of the force.'

'Sounds good to me,' said the Sergeant.

'You do realise how dangerous this will be?' asked the Arbiter puzzled.

'You seen me fire a rifle Arbiter, just wait till you see me close range,' Said the human. 'I might have a trick or two up my sleeve for those slimy flood bastards.'

As the three emerged onto the walkway above the hangar, the two humans jaws dropped. Hundreds and hundreds of Elites and grunts were forming lines and arming up at the hundreds of weapons racks, hastily placed in the hangar. In the far corner, at least thirty hunter pairs were huddled, checking and rechecking their bond-brother's weapons and armor. Sgt Johnson, after all the land battles and campaigns he had fought, had never seen this many covenant.

'This must be every warrior in…' Johnson started.

'The entire fleet,' said the Arbiter. 'Quickly humans, the ships will be departing soon. We mustn't make them wait. Each passing moment puts another one of my warriors in danger. Time is of the essence my friends.'

'Very philosophical,' said Johnson, jogging to keep up with the Arbiters large paces.

The Humans followed the Arbiter into a corridor and into a smaller hangar. He signalled to a Phantom in the middle of the bay. The Sergeant nodded and the Arbiter started again, striding towards the Phantom and straight into the grav-lift.

'Ladies first,' said Johnson as he let the commander past. She nodded and hurried into the purple light, disappearing in seconds.

'Here goes nothing,' muttered the Sergeant to himself as he stepped into the beam. He felt his stomach lurch as the lift took him and, within seconds, he was inside the drop ship.

The Human took a seat next to his the female and looked up at the Arbiter as he placed a long brown object in his mouth and lit the end on fire.

'So Arbiter,' he said. 'Why cant we just fry this thing from afar?'

'There are Survivors still down there; we must save them from the parasite. We must also destroy any docked ships to avoid their escape. Measures must be taken to ensure their containment.'

'Oh I get ya,' replied the human. 'Any sign of my boy down there?'

'The demon? Briefly, but not since before the traitors fled. We have lost communication with high charity completely for unknown reasons. Main plans are to save everyone and everything we can.'

'Sounds good to me Arbiter, Lets get to it.'

If the Master Chief wasn't about to witness the possible destruction of mankind, he could have been amused by the irony of this situation. He had taken command of no less then 75 Elites and grunts as well as a hunter pair, although they were stubborn to listen to him. The Chief and his new 'squad' had raided nearby armouries, killing brutes and jackals as well as scavenging weapons and equipment. The ship had long since entered earths atmosphere and was scheduled to make landfall at any moment. He had no idea what part of earth they were on but he had to defend it all the same. It was still Earth. His plan would soon kick into motion, and providing it was successful, would save a hell of a lot of marine's groundside. It would start the moment the ship hit the dirt. His squad sat around, staring at him alertly; obviously worried by the fact they were on an enemy controlled ship and outnumbered at least 100 to 1. Unbeknown to the covenant, the Chief had control of the entire corridor surrounding the huge docking bay the enemy army was situated in. The same corridor filled with windows looking into the bay. The Spartan felt a shudder as the ship slowed considerably, he could tell they were almost on the ground. He made the ready signal to the grunt stationed halfway between him and the next window who in turn, passed the signal onwards. Within 45 seconds, the ready signal had travelled the entire corridor and back to John from his left, everyone was ready.

The moment John felt the ship come to a stop, he had kicked the window in and activated 2 plasma grenades, throwing them into the room. As he did so, 30 or so grunts simultaneously shot the other windows in and placed stationary plasma turrets, which they began firing immediately. Roars broke out from the Brutes below, firing brute shots and frantically attempting to activate the Grav lifts that would lead them to solid ground and Earth. Dozens upon dozens of enemies fell as the combined might of 30 stationary guns, plasma fire and grenades cut into, tore apart and blew up the enemy soldiers. Drones flew up to the windows to meet the enemy and were promptly swatted out of the sky by bolts of plasma. The entire room was in complete chaos. As more and more enemies flooded through the now open Grav lifts, the fighting died down and the Master Chief, along with his new allies, surveyed the carnage they had initiated. Hundreds upon hundreds of enemy bodies lay in the bay below, the floor was hard to make out through the bodies, blood patches and scorch marks on it and the only movement left was the twitching of the deceased brutes.

'This is Spartan 117, any ground units in the vicinity please respond.' Said the Chief through the main communications channel. He had gotten so used to Cortana speaking on his behalf that he had almost forgotten completely that he could again use his communications equipment. He waited almost 30 seconds for a reply but no voice came through. The reply he did get set a large grin behind his helmet. A small blue light flashed once in the corner of his HUD. An acknowledgement light, but more importantly, a Spartans acknowledgement light, it was Fred.


	4. Chapter 3: ‘Back to basics’

Chapter 3.

'Back to basics.'

As Linda looked out the back of the Pelican, her sharp eyes searched for covenant strays in the slums surrounding New Mombasa. The Covenant had landed here just over 2 hours ago and were cleaning up any marine forces in their path. The cavalry had soon been called in. She spotted a lone Jackal and raised her Sniper rifle. It took her a split second to calculate the path of the bullet before she took off the creature's head. Linda was a Spartan, the best of the best. There was no target she could not hit, even from the back of a fast moving pelican from 150 metres away. She emptied the rest of her clip before reloading the rifle and shouldering it. She turned and continued examining Fred armor as the pilot opened a comm. channel and frantically called them into the cockpit. Placing her rifle in a nearby weapons cache, Linda followed the other 2 Spartans into the cockpit. Fred was 1st and promptly asked the pilot what the problem was.

'Look' said the woman, pointing to the large covenant carrier roughly a kilometre away.

'Oh no' said Fred quietly.

Of course Linda, with her supersensitive eyes, had already noticed the problem. Waves of light pulsed around the nose of the ship, beginning to swallow it.

'They're entering slip space, from inside the city!' said the pilot, astonished. 'I'm gettin this bird the hell outta here. Hold on tight.'

The Spartans grabbed onto the railing hanging from the roof a split second before the dropship took a sharp 180-degree turn and sped off in the other direction. Linda exited the cockpit, followed by Fred and Will and returned to where she had left her rifle. She picked up her rifle and looked out the back, freezing with the sight that met her eyes. The carrier had disappeared and in its place was a rapidly expanding ball of energy, vaporizing everything in its path.

'Holy hell,' whispered Will quietly.

'Step on it ma'am,' shouted Fred through the comm. channel.

'Affirmative, hold tight.' Replied the pilot, hitting the gas shortly afterwards. The Spartans could do little more then hold on tight as the pelican sped past the slums of New Mombasa, rapidly losing ground to the massive ball of energy. Linda could see the damage it was causing, blowing debris, buses and anything in its way, down streets and over buildings before rapidly engulfing them in its glowing expanse. She could hear the Pelicans engines whining now, screaming with pain as they were forced to slug on. They would not stay at this speed for much longer. As the pelican slowly began to reduce speed, the energy gained on them, no more then 500 meters away now.

'This is it,' thought Linda solemnly. 'After all the battles we have won, all the odds we have overcome, we are helpless against this enemy.'

She thought about John and where he was. The 3 Spartans were meant to do a quick sweep of the area before meeting him in Mombasa. If he were still there then he would most certainly be dead. 200 metres and the ball was all they could see. 100 metres and the pelican began to shake with the force of the energy being exerted from the sphere. The Dropship was soon shaking so violently that the Spartans had to strap themselves in to the rear seats.

Then, as quickly as it had expanded, the ball had stopped. The pelican finally slowed down, giving the engines a much-needed break and the Spartans surveyed the aftermath of the carnage they had just witnessed.

It was almost 5 minutes before the dome of energy had completely disappeared and when it did, Linda would have preferred to see it again. What had once been a bustling city had been reduced to a crater, a hundred or so metres deep.

'Ok people gear up,' said the pilot making Linda jump. 'All personnel in the area have been ordered to gear up and head into what's left of Mombasa. Shoot all covenant, save all survivors. Over and out.'

The Spartans nodded at each other before hastily gearing up and rechecking each others armor, more out of habit then procedure. Linda was once again on sniping duty as the pelican made its way around the outskirts of what used to be New Mombasa.

'Ma'am, could you fly slower and closer to the ground, that way we can use our motion trackers to find targets and survivors.' Asked Fred over the comm.

'No problem,' said the pilot as she brought the Pelican to a more reasonable altitude.

'Ok, set motion trackers to maximum range and keep your eyes open, ' ordered Fred.

Two acknowledgement lights winked at him from his HUD as Will manned the rear 50 cal and Linda readied her Sniper Rifle.

Fred spotted for the other 2 as the rattle of the 50 cal and the occasional crack of Linda's rifle slowly bore into their brains, numbing them of their surroundings. It was 2 hours of occasional enemy sightings before they found any sign of human survivors.

'I've spotted some marines,' said the pilot. 'They're pinned down, lets bust em out.'

'Affirmative ma'am,' replied Fred.

As the pelican flew over a small cluster of half demolished buildings, marines were clearly visible through the large gaps in the rooftops. Outside the building, elites, grunts and jackals were clearly visible, their oranges, blues and reds standing out in the harsh African terrain. Will and Linda made short work of these enemies and soon, the pelican was landed on the ground. Fred jumped out and turned around to see 4 marines emerging from the ruins.

'Sir,' said one of the marines as they all saluted Fred.

'At ease,' said Fred, returning the salute.

'Thanks for the backup sir, dunno how much longer we coulda kept those bastards off.'

'It's our job' replied Fred. 'Do you have any wounded here?'

'Yes sir we have one wounded and a medic over there in the building,' said an Australian marine pointing towards the ruins they had emerged from.

'Ok, everyone in the dropship double time! Lets move out and look for more survivors.' Shouted Fred over the roar of the Pelican bringing its engines back online.

'Sir yes sir!' replied the marines in unison.

Within 5 minutes, all 5 marines as well as the medic were aboard the pelican as it continued its flight around the outskirts of the New Mombasa crater. It was 3 hours before the Spartans found any other survivors. A lone marine, a civilian and his dog were spotted by Linda, running towards the pelican and waving frantically. Once they were on board, the pelican turned and headed for the military refugee camp being set up just west of Mombasa. The Spartans would have no more luck for the day.

As the Transport approached the camp, Linda was astonished at what she saw through the front viewport. Rows upon rows of tents and makeshift offices had been established, small hangars had been constructed in a row along with landing platforms for Pelicans and Longswords and a large command tent, from which the camp was built around.

'This is Mombasa camp, dropship tango 392, do you read me? Over.' Came a male voice through the comm. channel.

'Roger Mombasa, this is Tango 392, reading you loud and clear, over,' replied the pilot.

'Bring your bird down on the 3rd platform, ill have someone flag you down, over.'

'Affirmative Mombasa, Tango 392 out.'

With that, the ship turned and headed for the long line of landing pads at the northern fence of the base.

Linda spotted the right platform from afar and pointed it out to the captain who nodded and headed in that direction. No other human could have spotted a lone marine with glow sticks on a landing pad from that far away.

It was a somewhat unpleasant night for Linda, deep sleep mingled with a recurring nightmare she had been having lately. She recognised it from the story John had told her, when she had finally awoken, of how he had found a cryo tube in the space around halo and taken it aboard his Longsword. She had dreamed of this, stuck in a cryo tube, noiselessly screaming as she floated helplessly into unchartered space. Although she had no recollection of this ever happening, Johns words must have triggered something hidden in her mind, for she awoke most nights, sweating and shaking.

The squad spent the next 2 days scavenging the wreckage of new Mombasa, searching endlessly for some sign of survivors. None were found inside the city, it had become little more then a massive barren crater, thick ash floated through the air and it was sickening to see what had become of this once populated city. By the third day, the Spartans were no longer needed in the search and got a well-deserved rest before they were called into the Command tent.

'This is Admiral Flint, All Spartans please report to Command tent Alpha on the double.'

The 3 Spartans exchanged puzzled looks before donning their helmets and leaving their quarters.

'The Admiral sounded stressed,' thought Linda quickening her pace. The other Spartans followed and broke into a jog. They needed the exercise anyway. Linda reached the Command tent shortly ahead of Fred and Will and quickly reported to the guard for the necessary security checks. Once inside, a marine escorted them around the winding desks and cubicles and to a larger office where they found Admiral Flint behind a desk, wiping his brow with a handkerchief.

'Sir,' saluted the 3 Spartans in unison.

'At ease soldiers,' replied the Admiral. 'We haven't got much time so ill just get straight to the point. At 1100 hours, covenant forces were spotted in the outskirts of the system, progressing towards earth and destroying our orbital comm. stations surrounding Jupiter. Lack of resistance has let them reach our doorstep, we can't let them get any further. At 1300 hours an unidentified ship was spotted leaving slipspace just out of range of the orbital defence grid, it has now passed the Cairo, and the replacement MAC stations, the Stockholm and the Wellington, and is estimated to land 3 Clicks north of our current position. We cannot let the covenant take Earth, you must stop the ground forces at all costs. I will keep a minimum number of marines here on camp defence and put every other soldier I can under your command. Our ships are doing a darn good job up there but a few landing craft have slipped through our defences. They are headed for the same area. The corps in Europe are sending all the marines they've got, it isn't a whole lot though. Here,' said Flint as he handed Fred a folder. 'Mission briefing along with maps of the terrain. Its gunna be a long day Spartans.'

Linda sat in the most rear seat of the Pelican, watching the thirty or so other dropships following them. 'This will be the battle of a lifetime,' thought Linda. Each of the Spartans had been assigned a squad of ODST's to command, these three elite squads would play the biggest role in the battle for Mombasa, or more importantly, the battle for Earth. The pelicans began to slow and soon came to a stop. Linda and her team of Elite ODST Snipers jumped out and huddled in a circle, Linda laying out a map on the ground.

'Ok Green team here is the plan,' she started. 'Greens 1 through 8, go and find some cover in those buildings east of the drop point. You should be able to see the point clearly from your positions. They could land anywhere on this plain so make sure you have a good field of vision. Green 1 through 4, take all open shots but concentrate on enemy snipers, 5 through 8 take out the Elites and Brutes. We don't want them getting near our infantry. Greens 9 through 15, you guys are with me. We will take cover in those hills over there. They aren't a lot more then mounds but they are littered with rocks and trees, which should provide some cover. Ok Green team good luck, Lets move out!'

The ODST's saluted at these last words before moving out and heading for their positions. Once Linda and her squad had reached the hills, she contacted Fred.

'Team Leader this is Green 1. Green team is in position, over.'

'Roger that Green 1, ETA 15 minutes. Just sit tight, over.' Replied Fred from the pelican LZ. He waited for an acknowledgement light from Linda before turning back to his squad. Approximately 200 marines and ODST's crowded around him as he gave a short briefing of the situation.

'Ok people, ETA is 15 minutes, get those barricades set up at the base of the hill to the west and the bottom of those structures to the east. We need to protect Green Team at all cost. Corporal McLean,' Fred shouted.

'Sir yes sir.' Came a gruff voice from near the back of the crowd.

'Take your team and set up those barricades.' Ordered Fred. 'Half to the east and half to the west. Keep plenty of space in the middle for red team to do their job.'

'Yes sir, lets move boys!' Shouted McLean, starting a jog for the barricades. Within 5 minutes, the barricades were in place and McLean as well as his men had reported back to Fred.

'Ok marines, I want all rocket jockeys to find high ground to make the shots count. Aim at any unopened drop pods too, maybe we can kill them before they get the chance to return the favour. Ok, this is Earth and were gunna give em hell for It. Right Marines?'

'Sir yes Sir!' Shouted 200 voices in Unison.

'Lets move out.' Shouted Fred and within minutes, there was no movement on the plain. The barricades had been camouflaged and the marines were hidden completely from view. 50 cal turrets were set up and the trap was ready to be sprung.

The unidentified ship in the sky, the dot that over 200 humans were solely focused on, slowly grew larger, making its decent down to earth. The sun blared from the sky, casting long shadows across the dirt. Daylight was wearing thin. The dot grew slowly into a triangle, which in turn, grew slowly into an alien ship. It was pyramid shaped, too square to be covenant, but what else could it be? The hum from the ships engines soon became a rumble and then a distinct roar. It was no more then 200 metres from landing now.

'Guns up!' shouted Fred through his Comm. channel. 200 assorted battle, assault and sniper rifles were raised to shoulder height as the marines checked their guns and scopes. 50 metres away and the winds were so fierce, the marines had to hide behind the barricades. A thud was heard over the roar as the ship hit the dirt and came to a stop. The engine noise halved and the wind stopped. Within seconds the Grav lifts activated and every single gun barrel was pointed at them. There were no less then 9 grav lifts extending from the belly of the ship and they were blue, unlike the trademark purple the covenant implemented. I took almost 30 second before anything came out of the dropships, Brutes and jackals began pouring out of the dropship, being mowed down by the nearby marines. 50 cal fire ripped through the Brutes and Jackals who gave no return fire. Instead they seemed to be trying to run from the ship they had just emerged from. Little more then 200 enemies came down the Grav lifts, all brutes and jackals putting up no resistance and occasionally drones attempting to fly away. The slaughter stopped as quickly as it started and the plain was still again.

'Green 1 to Team Leader,' Said Linda through a private comm. channel. 'Come in Team Leader, over.'

'I read you Green 1, what's the problem? Over.' Replied Fred.

'Look at the Grav lifts, do you see that?'

'What is it?' asked Fred, puzzled. He could see some kind of liquid dripping from the top of the lifts.

'Blood.' Said Linda.

'This is Spartan 117, any ground units in the vicinity please respond.'

Fred grinned and sent and acknowledgement signal to the Chief.

'Watch your fire marines,' shouted Fred over a main comm. link. The Chief is on that ship.'


	5. Chapter 4: ‘Liberation and Abandonment’

Chapter 4

'Liberation and Abandonment'

1100 hours, September 4 2552

Epsilon Eridani System.

'Hold tight!' shouted Thomas as the longsword sped towards the covenant frigate. They swayed left and right, dodging occasional debris form the numerous ships that had been destroyed in this section of the system.

Whoever had said that Thomas was the best pilot on the Minotaur was definitely correct. She dodged, rolled and weaved through the debris, speeding towards the enemy vessel.

'There's our target people,' shouted Lansir, pointing through the viewport at a small section of light in the now enormous ship. It was a docking bay.

'Roger that sir,' said Thomas quickly. 'Setting thrusters to 110.' The ship sped out of the debris field and into the large section of open space between it and the Frigate.

James turned his external speakers off before opening a private comm. channel.

'Preston, can you hear me?' asked the Spartan quietly.

'Yes James, what seems to be the problem?' replied the AI.

'We are about to enter a covenant ship, protocol requires…'

'I am aware of what protocol requires James, I will ask you to do it once we enter the ship, if we, if you don't make it on that ship then I wont be of much use to you will I?'

'True,' said the Spartan, lost in thought.

'Spartan!' shouted Lansir. 'Gear up and get ready for immediate boarding action.'

'Yes sir, I suggest we arm any explosives we have on this vessel. If we do not take the ship, we can at least blow it to pieces.'

'Negative Spartan, we don't have nearly enough explosives. The most we could do would be to blow up the longsword itself.'

'Well then we must do that, I will gear up and arm the explosives for remote detonation.' Replied James as he made his way to the storage bins at the back of the cockpit.

'Good work Spartan, get tactical marines, time to jack us a ride.'

The Longsword raced through space, the frigate now taking up the entire viewport. Everyone except Thomas strapped into a chair and prepared for their mission. This was the safest option as it could be a bumpy ride.

'Umm sir,' said Thomas. 'Their energy shields are online.'

'Hmm I figured as much.' Replied Lansir. 'Once we get closer, they will launch seraphs to counter us. Once the shields go down, set boosters to max power, I don't care if they blow. We need to be inside when that shield closes over.'

'Roger that sir, everyone hang on, this could be some tricky flying.'

Lansir strapped into the passenger seat and began ordering Thomas on what to do.

'Get closer, watch that debris, closer still, shield is powering down, get closer,' came Lansirs commentary. 'Ok the shield is down, get in there go go go.'

Thomas pushed the throttle to 115 as the ship jumped in speed and began to shake. The engines could be heard whining loudly through the titanium plated hull and warning signals began beeping and flashing on the control panel.

James clenched his fists into a tight ball and closed his eyes. He did not want to die like this, he wanted to die in battle, beside his fellow Spartans. He would have rather been on Reach, dead with his brothers and sisters then here, with nothing but a thin ray of hope to hold on to. The odds were stacked so highly against them that even he, a Spartan, who had overcome unsurmountable odds in numerous land campaigns, did not think they would make it.

'Ok people, were bringing it down inside a Seraph bay, once we hit the floor, the petty officer will then exit the ship and close the airlock to the bay. Once the doors are closed, I want everyone out of the pelican, no doubt they will put up a hell of a fight.' Lansir looked into the eyes of each and every member of the team. 'I know you people doubt this, you think we will die here. But if we do, were takin' them with us. Were gunna wipe out those critters till we can't lift the guns in our hands. Do I make myself clear marines?'

'SIR YES SIR!' shouted the Marines, full of hope. James could tell why Lansir was such a high ranked soldier. The engine noise outside slowed down and the Fighter flew no more then 10 metres from the enemy frigate. The Seraph bay was just ahead, no turning back now. He turned off his external speakers again and spoke to Preston for the last time.

'This is it Preston.' He said Solemnly

'It would appear so my friend, it has been an honour to serve with you James.' Replied Preston, a tremor of fear appearing in his normally confident voice.

'As it has with you. Goodbye Preston,' said James as he took Prestons data crystal from the slot in the longsword. He placed it on the ground and stamped down hard, twisting his armoured foot from side to side.

'Goodbye,' He whispered.

'Spartan,' called Lansir, snapping James out of his daydream. 'Get ready, were gunna be in there any second.'

James nodded and headed to the airlock at the back of the cockpit.

'Here we go,' he muttered to himself as the 1st airlock closed. He felt the small room slowly decompress around him.

The moment the landing gear touched down on the alien surface, James was out of the fighter and down the ramp, Battle Rifle in hand. He pushed off from the Longsword and floated on his side towards the switch, gunning down 2 unlucky Jackals in vacuum suits. He shot one more jackal long range before reaching the switch and hitting the door controls. An energy shield appeared over the gap in the wall and atmosphere was pumped into the hangar. James floated to the ground and sprinted to the ship as the hatch came down. The squad jumped out, all armed and ready, and moved to a corner of the docking bay, hidden by purple cargo modules. Alarms began to sound throughout the ship.

'What way is the bridge?' asked Lansir.

'It will most likely be near the centre of the ship.' Replied James.

'So which door do we take?' asked Pvt Moore.

'No idea,' said James. 'But in any case, we should take that one right there.' He said pointing to a door 10 metres away. 'We can hide behind those cargo modules, ambush the first wave of attackers and get through before it closes.'

'Sounds risky,' said Lansir. 'Lucky I like risky,' he grinned. 'You take the lead Spartan.'

'Roger that sir, everyone stay close, find a hiding spot.'

As James finished his sentence, the alarms got louder and movement was heard from the deck above. With his superhuman senses, James could hear a patrol running down the hallway on the other side of the door. He immediately gave the 'get ready' signal to the rest of the squad before ducking down behind a module. He held up his hand for the whole squad to see and began a countdown with his fingers.

3…

2…

1…

The squad jumped from behind the modules, showering the patrol with grenades and rifle fire. At least half of them dropped to the ground within the first 5 seconds, dead or too injured to fight on.

'Concentrate on the Elites!' Shouted Lansir over the heavy gunfire.

The last elite went down and the remaining Grunts and Jackals fleed, being gunned down by James BR55 as he chased them through the door.

'Quickly everyone get through,' he shouted at the group.

Once the last member of the Squad was through the door, it promptly closed leaving the Group with only one direction to go. So that was the way they headed, alertly sweeping each crossroad with rifles before quickly moving on. They did this for an almost an hour, taking right turn and left turns before they made it to another large room. It appeared to be some kind of religious chamber. James could see the bridge through the permanently open doors on the other side of the room.

'Ok people, this is it,' James began. 'The Bridge is on the other side of this room. We have to get there. We've had next to no resistance so far so expect there to be a lot now. Good luck'

And with the finish of his pep talk, he made his way slowly into the room, examining his surroundings as he went. The room was a landscape, full of purple leaved covenant plants and even a small pond. He crouched down and made his way through the foliage as the rest of his squad followed behind him.

He was just about to exit the bushes on the far side of the chamber when movement on his motion tracker caught his eye. Two blips in front of him, two blips behind him and two blips on his right. He poked his head slightly out of the bushes to see what was going on and his blood froze. 2 large, ape like creatures stood at each door, searching the room for signs of the humans. James looked left and saw a solid wall. The only way out was past these beasts, they had to fight them. As James spoke to his squad in signal, grunts began to group up behind the creatures, looking nervously past them into the room. James ordered his squad around using hand signals, and they crawled off into various parts of the foliage. Tis would be a hard battle to fight their ways out of, especially considering they had used the majority of their grenades in the previous battle.

James pulled the pin of his last frag grenade, the signal to start the attack, and threw it at the 2 Brutes guarding the door that connected to the bridge. They roared as they tried to escape the blast, but were not fast enough as the explosion consumed one brute and injured the other. Roars sounded around the chamber as brutes rushed to join the battle, their brethren falling to the fragmentation grenades. James jumped to his feet, levelled his battle rifle and began to gun down the brutes as the rest of his squad followed suit. James turned to gun down a brute charging at Lansir as he was caught off guard from behind and a brute hit him in the back of the head. He fell to his knees as his senses blurred, took another blow from the brute and fell to the ground. He saw, through blurred vision, as Lansir took a Carbine round to the shoulder and screamed with pain. He kept firing until 2 more rounds hit him in the chest and he fell to the ground, lifeless. James tried to scream but couldn't as he slowly gave way to the blackness.

Aboard Phantom dropship

En route to High Charity.

Ninth Age of Reclamation

'You think the chief is still alive Sergeant?' Asked Commander Keyes quietly. She had been quietly wondering this question since they had boarded the Arbiter's ship.

'With all due respect ma'am, have you seen his mission records? It'll take more then a few parasites to take him down.'

The Commander chuckled.

'Good to see you have faith sergeant,' she said grinning. 'But I'm just not sure anything could survive against odds like that.'

'I've fought alongside the chief on many occasions and trust me, he can handle it.' Replied Johnson, a smirk appearing on his face. The Commander seemed content with Johnson and asked no more questions on the trip to High Charity. The Phantom entered the atmosphere of the city and quickly flew for the nearest docking bay, weaving in and out of the pillars and building that held the roof of the city up. The phantoms weapons opened up on the flood in the docking bay and, after destroying them all, they descended to the platform. The strike quickly disembarked the vessel and set up a defensive perimeter around the landing pad before the Arbiter and the 2 humans followed suit, leaving the ship, which immediately took off in order for the next dropship to land. Soon, the docking bay was filled with several hundred troops, all commanded by the Arbiter. There was another group, roughly the same size, currently being dropped at a docking bay in a different section of high charity. Major Nekomaree would be in charge of this group.

'Get those doors open.' Shouted the Arbiter, pointing to the docking bay doors at the far end of the hangar. The strike teams quickly moved to secure the doors before the elite team of spec-ops Sangheili moved to open the door.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' said Cortana, her image appearing on the holo-panel next to the door as a hundred or so plasma rifles were aimed at her.

'Hold your damn fire!' Shouted Sergeant Johnson, quickly running to the front of the group.

'Wow, nice welcoming party you got here Sergeant.' Said Cortana sarcastically.

'What is going on here?' asked the Arbiter, as he made his way over to the holo-panel and stopped next to Johnson.

'Arbiter, this is Cortana, she is our man on the inside.'

'How did she get here?' asked the Arbiter, puzzled.

'I came with the Chief.' She replied. 'Enough of that, we have more important matters to discuss. On the other side of this door, there is an army of flood combat forms, if you are wishing to keep casualties minimal, I suggest you use an alternate route.'

'And what route would that be, construct?' asked the Arbiter, satisfied that he had outsmarted the AI. 'This is the only way in and out of the shuttle bay.'

'Funny, I thought an Elite of your status would be…informed on the architecture of your own city,' replied Cortana, wiping the expression she assumed was a smirk off the Arbiters face. 'You are incorrect Arbiter, there are several service corridors leading to and from this docking bay. Some are infested with flood, some aren't. There is no surveillance in these areas, making it impossible for me to keep track of whether the way is clear or not.'

'Good work Cortana,' said Commander Keyes as she joined the conversation. 'With your permission Arbiter, the Sergeant and myself will command a squad of your Elites each and head down separate corridors and spread out in search of survivors. I suggest that they be equipped with energy swords for the close quarter fighting in the service corridors.'

'Very good hu..' the Arbiter paused for a second. 'Commander. I will charge the rest of the troops with securing this docking bay and getting through the main doors. Start immediately, the parasite is spreading.'

'Affirmative.' Said Commander Keyes as she turned on her heel and began to follow the Arbiter to the squad she would be leading.

'Wait a second,' said Johnson, turning to Cortana's hologram. 'If you're here, where is the chief?'

'I lost him,' replied Cortana. 'He boarded the forerunner ship as Truth took off. It entered slipspace shortly afterwards.'

'So he's not here on high charity?' Asked Commander Keyes.

'Nope,' said Cortana. 'What on earth!' she said suddenly, turning in the other direction. 'I have to go, I will be keeping track of your progress.' She said quickly before her hologram faded away and the two humans were left staring at a blank pedestal.


	6. Chapter 5: 'Pieces Mended'

Chapter 5

'Pieces Mended.'

Aboard High Charity

2100 hours, October 12th, 2552

'You see brethren,' cried the Prophet of Truth. 'He is but flesh and bone, like the rest of his kind. They risk the completion of the great journey, they are heretics, and this ones treatment will be no different.'

The crowd cheered loudly as the mark of shame was branded onto the humans shoulder.

'Heretic!' chanted the crowd.

James, once again overcome by pain, succumbed to the blackness that had consumed him much of this past month. Once the ritual was complete, they dragged the bruised, bleeding Spartan back to his holding cell and roughly threw him in the door, activating the energy barrier before leaving.

James screamed as he awoke at the pain burning through his right shoulder, he felt as if he had been shot by hundreds of plasma rounds, the pain was like nothing he had felt before. He opened his swollen black eyes to notice his vision was blurry, from damage to his eyes or the pain wracking his body, he was not sure. His Armor was now completely gone, he was draped in a covenant rag, tied around his waste. The cells were freezing but his body had adapted to them.

'Any time now' James thought. 'Sooner or later the large 'brutes' would return and beat him once again, before dragging him away to his inevitable public execution. He thought of his fellow Spartans, the only family he had ever had. Were any still alive? Or was he the last of their kind? He had felt this feeling before, in the blackness of the Eridani system. Fate was out of his hands. With all his augmentations, superhuman strengths and senses, the feeling of helplessness once again flooded over him, chilling him to the bone. Two Brutes appeared at the door of his cell.

'You can have the fun this time,' one said, as the other nodded and advanced on James. He tried to put up a fight but noticed his arms had been tethered to the walls by ropes of pure energy. He was truly helpless. James doubled over as the first blow hit him in the stomach, he rose to his feet and looked the Brute in the eyes.

'How dare you face me, scum.' Said the Brute, disgusted, as he looked the human up and down. Rather then reply to the beast, the Spartan made a simple gesture, he spat in the Brutes face.

Rage came across the warrior as he wiped the saliva from his face.

'You will pay dearly for that, vermin.'

He pulled back and swung a right hook, aiming clear for the side of James's head. Using the little energy he had, James used his inhuman reflexes to dodge underneath the massive fist, which careened straight into the wall behind him, creating a large crater. James seized this moment, bringing his right foot into the creature's ribs with lightning speed. He heard the beast roar in pain before a monstrous blow to the side of the head knocked him to the ground.

'This is it,' he thought and his vision faded to black.

As the chiroptera class vessel exited slipspace, the blackness that had covered the viewports slowly became lighter, stars randomly dotting the sheet of darkness. A small planet was barely viewable from the distance of the cruiser, but the doctor knew what to look for.

'Isaac, set destination to Atlantis IV.' Said Halsey as she rose from the terminal she was working at.

'Affirmative ma'am,' replied the construct as the ship began to rotate in the direction of the planet. 'ETA 120 minutes ma'am.'

'Thankyou.' Said the Doctor quietly before returning to the computer panel she had previously been tending to. She pressed a few more buttons before opening up a comm. channel to the armoury of the ship, which had long since become the quarters of governor Jiles.

'Kelly, please suit up and report to the cockpit immediately.'

'Understood ma'am.' Replied Kelly in an unenthusiastic tone. Although this type of tone was uncharacteristic for a Spartan, especially towards The Doctor, Halsey found it quite justified. She new how much the Spartans needed each other, how they were all each other had and how the bonds grew closer and closer as less and less returned from battle. She had taken all of this into account before she had taken the sedated Spartan on board the governor's vessel and entered slipspace. But it had to be done. The covenant knew the location of Earth now, this was the last line of defence. They needed every capable soldier to return to Earth and prepare for its defence. That was why she was here. The contents of the S-III file had bought her here. She new these would be a new type of soldier, completely different to the Spartan II's. But who or how good they were did not matter as long as they could hold a gun.

The whoosh of air from an automatic door behind her told her that Kelly had reached the bridge.

'What seems to be the problem doctor?' asked the Spartan curiously, yet still unenthusiastically. Halsey ignored the tone and continued.

'You see that planet down there,' said Halsey, pointing to Atlantis IV. 'If my predictions are correct, that is the secret location of the Spartan III training program. I cannot know for sure until we get into the planets atmosphere but we must assume so. Your mission is to make contact with these new Spartans, and hopefully CPO Mendez who I suspect is training them. We must inform them of the peril that Earth is in and that they must leave for Earth at once, possibly cutting their training short.'

Kelly's helmeted head slowly nodded as she took all of the Doctors words in and a strange thought struck her. They would not be the best anymore. With these new Spartan III's, her and her family would no longer be mankinds finest.

'Is everything ok Kelly?' asked Halsey, almost as if she could read the Spartans mind.

'Yes ma'am.' Lied Kelly.

'Ok well I suggest you get prepped, we will be arriving shortly.'

Kelly nodded and began to leave the Bridge but stopped as Isaac spoke.

'Ma'am, unknown ships inbound on our position, they seem to be UNSC.'

'Can we make contact?' asked Halsey quickly.

'Yes ma'am, but they are demanding we shutdown all thrusters while they check the ship.'

'Roger that Isaac, shut them down.'

The ships grew closer and within 10 minutes, they were surrounded. Strange noises could be heard outside the ship, like probes examining the outer hull.

'How do they expect to check the entire inside of the ship?' asked Kelly as she slumped down into chair, removing her helmet.'

'Like this.' Said a deep voice behind her as 8 large figures disabled cloaking devices from different positions in the Cockpit. Eight guns were levelled at the two humans heads. They were surrounded.

Earth burned, there was nothing the Spartan could do. As he watched from the bridge of Cairo Station, the covenant fleet fired at the planet, glassing it bit by bit. He was a Spartan, an elite ground unit. There was nothing he could do but watch helplessly. The feeling of helplessness washed over him once again as he watched. He turned around to find a group of brutes advancing on him. He reached for his M6B pistol to find it was missing form its holster at his side. He stepped backwards and lost his footing, falling into the black depths of space. He could hear the covenant warships plasma as they fired onto the human home world. They had lost the war. He closed his eyes and welcomed death. When he opened them, the Spartan James was lying in a heap on the floor. His time was almost up, as was earths.

'Cover those doors!' screamed Commander Keyes as she unholstered her twin M6D's and began to fire into the swarm of infection forms.

'Drive them back!'

The wave of infection forms broke upon the plasma and lead scorching through their ranks. Soon, the only evidence of this small army was a large green pool, staining the ground of the shuttle bay.

'Damn critters,' said Johnson as he reloaded his SMG's. 'They're a god damn waste of ammo. What's the plan now Commander?'

'Johnson, you take point. We must travel through these service corridors and meet up with Cortana on the other side. The Arbiter tells me the Prophets quarters are nearby. We can use a holo-panel there to link up with Cortana.'

'Roger that ma'am lets move team.' Shouted Johnson.

'Wait,' called the Arbiter turning to the Commanders team of Elites. 'These humans are now your commanding officers, you will treat them as such. If I hear of any different, the punishments will be severe. Is that understood?'

'Yes Arbiter.' Said the Elites in unison.

'As you were Sergeant.'

'Ok team lets move out, the corridors are narrow so we will go 2 at a time.' Said the Sergeant as he paired up the Elites and took a partner himself.

There was a strange silence as Johnson entered the corridor. With his partner behind him, he made his way down the corridor, killing a few scattered infection forms. Within 5 minutes he came to a crossroads in the corridor.

'Which way Ma'am?' Shouted the Sergeant back down the line.

'Straight ahead,' she replied.

As Johnson and the first few Elites moved through the crossroads, flood began to gather in the darkness of the other corridors. The Commander jumped as she heard flood screams all around her. She was trapped.

'Fall back, Fall back!' she shouted to the Elites behind her.

The line was soon split in half as flood poured out through the middle. Several Elites fell to the sudden onslaught before the rest of the warriors gained composure, covering the flood with scores of plasma. But they just kept coming.

'Keep moving Sergeant' shouted Keyes. 'I will cover our six.'

'Roger that ma'am.'

Within minutes, the flood had stopped their pursuit of the group leaving them to lose themselves in the maze of service corridors. The two humans, along with 7 Elites had been split off from the rest of the column, forced by the attack at the crossroads to go on alone. They had to find Cortana and find out what the problem was. Why had she left in such a hurry?

Johnson looked straight ahead of him and then behind. The narrow passage was pitch black, save for his flashlight and the glow of the elites plasma weapons. Beyond his flashlights range was an impenetrable wall of blackness. The flood could pounce at any second. He had to move slowly. The group moved for what seemed like hours until finally, Johnson could see a faint light in front of him. They had reached the Prophets chambers.

'That was too easy,' Johnson thought to himself. 'Where had all the flood gone? High Charity was supposed to be overrun.'

'Johnson, what's going on?' shouted Keyes.

'We have reached the end of this corridor ma'am.' Replied Johnson.

'Good work Sergeant, proceed with caution.'

Johnson nodded at the Commanders words before slowly exiting the corridor. The room was dimly lit, a lone holo-pedestal glowing slightly in the centre of the large round chamber. He moved into the room and signalled for his team of Elites to enter as well. The moment the Commander had left the corridor, the group moved into the centre of the room, forming a defensive perimeter. Shrieks from flood combat forms were heard as they made their way to attack the group. They moved back into a wall and formed a semi-circle, waiting for the flood assault. Within seconds, a group of combat forms entered the room followed by a large crowd of infection forms. They spotted the group of trespassers and began a charge.

Johnson, let loose a fragmentation grenade before unleashing a hail of bullets into the wave of flood. The room lit up as the Elites let loose with their plasma rifles. The sound of twin magnums firing could be heard distinctly over the noise as the Commander fired at the relentless tide. More Combat forms entered the room along with carrier forms as the wave came closer and closer to the group.

'Johnson, aim for those carrier forms.' Shouted Commander Keyes over the noise of the battle. If Johnson did reply, it was not heard as more flood screams sounded from the service corridor they had just exited.

'Now we are really in trouble,' shouted Johnson.

He let loose another frag grenade before stopping to reload. As his weapons stopped firing, a combat form leaped onto him, lashing his chest with its tentacles. He screamed in pain as Commander Keyes killed the beast and provided Johnson with covering fire. She moved to see if he was alright but she knew the answer. His clothes were torn and bloodied and his body armor was cracked. He was not moving.

'Johnson!' Shouted Keyes. 'Can you hear me?'

He did not move. She prayed that he was only unconscious.

'We can't hold them off much longer.' Shouted an Elite as Flood poured from the service corridor.

Keyes returned her focus to the battle, there was no time to help Johnson. The group fired and retreated until their backs were against the wall. They could not go anywhere.

'Wort Wort Wort!' cried an Elite as he threw down his overheated weapon and unleashed a glowing plasma sword.

His fellow Elites did the same, screaming a battle cry as they charged into the oncoming army of flood. This was a last stand. Keyes turned to Johnson, using the time the Elites had bought her to see if he was alright. He was now awake, sitting up with his back against the wall. The Commander looked on in awe as he reloaded his weapons, still sitting, and fired into a group of infection forms. She looked at his chest and saw no marks from the hit he had taken.

'What on earth?' she said to herself as Johnson got to his feet and continued to fire.

'Ill teach these bastards to mess with Sergeant A.J. Johnson!' he shouted and ran into the battle, picking up a fallen Elites energy sword before hacking into the Combat forms, a sub-machinegun still in his off hand. He fought like this for 10 minutes, taking flood hits, getting back up time and time again. The Commander had never seen anything like it. Three of the Seven Elites had fallen and the others were slowly succumbing to the ruthless onslaught. They needed a miracle. Johnson slumped back against the wall, exhausted. Two Elites remained and they readied themselves for another wave. All ammo had been depleted, the Commander had picked up a plasma pistol from a dead combat from but knew it would not save her.

As the final wave rushed in, she fired the plasma pistol wildly until it overheated, throwing it away as plasma spewed out of it. She had no weapon, this was it. She bowed her head and sank to the floor, knowing that any minute now, the Elites would fall and the flood would advance on her. As a Combat form advanced on her, ready to maim her with its tentacled arm, she closed her eyes and awaited the final blow. But it never came. Battle Rifle rounds slammed into the combat form and it fell sideways, right in front of the Commander. She looked up and saw a silhouette through the darkness, a seven-foot tall, armor-clad human stood in a doorway, the light reflecting the sage colour of his armor. She watched dumbstruck as the Spartan gracefully pulled a grenade from his waist and threw it at the flood wave. With the Spartans help, the flood were destroyed within minutes. The Spartan shouldered his Battle rifle before extending an armoured hand to the Commander and helping her up.

'Thank you,' she said, coming to her senses.

'Thanks chief, but I could have taken them.' Said Johnson as he placed a cigar in his mouth and lit it.

'But Cortana said the Chief had left High Charity,' said the Commander, puzzled.

'Well obviously Cortana was wrong.' Said Johnson.

'When have you ever known me to be wrong?' said the holo-panel in the centre of the room as Cortanas figure appeared above it. 'Commander, Sergeant, I'd like you to meet Spartan 078, James.'


	7. Chapter 6: ‘Bringing out the big guns’

Chapter 6

'Bringing out the big guns'

On board the Forerunner Vessel

Earth

'Praise the Demon!' shouted the Elites as the last Brute in the chamber below had slumped lifeless to the floor. John felt awkward as he stood surrounded by Elites, his new allies. His hatred for them had been forgotten in the past hour and been replaced with the urge to survive, and to save Earth. But as peace returned, so did his anger. These beasts he had just fought along side had killed thousands, maybe even millions of humans. Women, Children, Marines and even his fellow Spartans had fallen before their relentless onslaught. Yet they had been fooled by the Prophets, deceived for centuries, generations tricked by the treachery of their leaders. Was it their fault or had they just been puppets of their former masters? He then remembered his original mission, to capture a Covenant leader. His family, his squad, had been all but destroyed trying to reach this goal, it was the mission they had trained all those years for, and John would honour his fallen brothers and sisters by fulfilling the objective they could not. John suddenly felt anger at the thought of his fallen squad mates. It had been this prophets doing, the prophet who was at that very moment, on the same ship as John. Now, it was time for revenge.

He turned on his heel and stormed off, ignoring the baffled looks given to him by Elites.

'Hold position here.' He shouted as he broke into a jog and headed for the door he thought would lead him to the Prophet. If his thoughts were right, the prophet would be on the bridge, most likely in the centre of the nose of the ship.He stopped outside the first door, took a deep breath and pumped a shell into his M90 Shotgun. He could not let vengeance cloud his judgement. He was to capture the prophet, not kill him. He walked closer to the door and it opened, revealing a sloped corridor. He scanned it quickly before moving inside the door, ducking into the shadows. When he reached the end of the slope, there was a 180-degree turn in the corridor, still sloping upwards. He made a quick glance around the corner and saw the patrol of Jackals, guarding an intersection in the corridors about 20 metres away. He armed a plasma grenade and threw it into the centre of the group before sprinting into the fray with his shotgun. The grenade split the jackals up, forcing them into the corridors surrounding their post. The lone jackal that ran in John's direction was the 1st to be dispatched as John put a boot into the fleeing jackals head with a force that could dent a tank. The body of the jackal skidded to a halt a few metres away, the head limply completely missing. He picked up the plasma grenades from the body and ran through the crossroads, throwing one grenade each way before charging forward at the remaining Jackal. He shot a shell into its shield before swinging the gun in a massive arc and swiping the Jackal from its feet. It hit the wall with a thud and slumped lifeless to the floor. As he turned to move on, he heard a slight noise behind him and turned around, facing his shotgun back down the corridor. Nothing.

He stayed there, scanning the corridor before claiming the plasma grenades the jackals had dropped, turning and racing up the corridor in his original direction. He made it to the end of the corridor within a few seconds and scanned where to go next. Just beyond him was a fork in the path. He went right, came to a door and entered. Straight in front of him was a group of Brutes in Honour Guard armor.

'There he is.' Shouted one, pointing to the demon as he threw a plasma grenade into the group with lightning speed, sticking a Brute in the chest. His squad mates shouted and pushed him away as he screamed and pulled at the grenade, which detached from his chest, sticking to the hand he had ripped it off with. The explosion echoed throughout the room as the grenade blew, Brutes diving for cover and Jackals hiding behind their shields. The Master Chief, outnumbered greatly, turned to run as the Brutes closed on him. He ran back down the corridor the way he had came, looking for cover. He passed the spot where the group of Jackals lay, bloody and mangled. Reaching the end of the corridor, he turned around and planted his feet firmly on the deck, bracing himself for the oncoming assault. It was a few seconds before the Brutes reached the other end of the corridor, spotted the Spartan and charged, dropping to all fours and pounding down the corridor. The Master Chief levelled his shotgun and prepared to fire when he noticed a quick flash to the left of the corridor. It was then that he figured out what the noise had been behind him on his way to the prophet's chamber.

As the brutes reached the junction where the jackals had previously been stationed, another flash on the right side of the corridor was visible and within an instant, four invisible Elites had sprung the trap, their Plasma blades held out as the Brutes charged down the corridor. Their momentum was their downfall as the force of each Brutes charge drove the plasma blades into them. The Master Chief charged forwards, shotgun levelled as the last 2 brutes roared at him. The Elites cut one down as the other leapt through the group, knocking them flying, and charging straight at the Spartan. The Master Chief waited for the Brute to get closer before raising the shotgun and releasing a shell into the charging Brutes face. He dived to the side as inertia pushed the lifeless form down the corridor, skidding to a halt meters away.

With the brutes taken care of, the Master Chief turned to the Elites who were gaining their composure and helping each other to their feet. They eyed the Chief carefully as he approached until the leader of the group clicked his mandibles angrily and they all dropped to one knee. The Chief merely nodded and moved past the Elites, hardly acknowledging the fact that they had probably just saved his life. He then returned to the bridge, pacing quickly up the corridor and towards the Prophet. The Elites watched him walk for a moment before hesitantly following him to face the enemy.

Admiral Hood stood on the bridge of the Cairo, watching as the covenant fleet continued to pound the orbital defence grid as well as the many ships stationed around earth. He knew it would take a miracle to win this war and all he could do was wait for it.

'Sir, this is Lieutenant Jacobs, we have a problem down here.'

'Ok Lieutenant, give it to me.' Replied Hood.

'The covenant are releasing large drop pods, aimed straight at earth. We don't know what they are but they are big. Bigger then any pods we have encountered so far.'

'Roger that Lieutenant, how many are there?'

'Around 100 sir, my squad can't take all of them out.'

'Well try your best,' replied the Admiral. 'Hopefully the ground teams can take whatever those pods dish out.'

'Affirmative sir, Jacobs out.'

'Lets rock and roll people.' Said Jacobs as he closed the comm. link with Lord Hood. 'You heard the man, take out as many bastards as possible.'

'Roger that,' said the squadron in unison.

'The pilot with the least kills gets to clean my ride,' said Jacobs as he rocketed ahead of his squadron.

'Ok Jacobs, you can clean mine too,' said Evans, activating her afterburners to catch up.

'Haha, your on,' said Jacobs. 'Now lets cut the crap and earn our paycheques.'

With that, Jacobs slowed his longsword down and took a steep dive, hurtling past the now derelict Stockholm MAC Station. It had taken a direct hit to the MAC during the earlier stages of the battle and had been evacuated once all archer missiles had been fired. Jacobs then hit the afterburners, signalling his squad to do the same and plummeted toward the atmosphere, steadily gaining on the enemy pods.

'Set afterburners to maximum power,' said Jacobs to his squadron. 'We have to catch as many of these tubs as we can before they hit the atmosphere.'

Jacobs was the first to reach the wave of pods and was amazed at how big they were. Each was at least twice the size of his longsword and pyramid shaped with a large cubic pod at the back. The rounded edges of the pods were the dull covenant purple and the nose was a metallic silver, obviously made from the same alloy as the infantry drop pods used by Elites.

'Ok people, let's get to work.' Said Jacobs, opening a comm. channel to his squadron. 'Me, Evans, Page and Matthews will take the right flank. Patrick, Anders and Tomsac take left flank. All remaining fighters provide cover, things will get hot pretty quickly. Just keep any Seraphs off out backs so we can get the job done. Jacobs out.'

'Don't we get a pep-talk El Tee?' asked Evans sarcastically from her position above Jacobs.

'Well you can listen to me talk all day or you can blow stuff up, what's it gunna be?'

'Ah, good point. Evans out.'

The Lieutenant laughed, more to himself then to Evans, before spiralling to the right and letting loose on the first pod. It took a beating from his 110mm auto cannons but soon succumbed to the hail of lead sent its way, rupturing its fuel tank and incinerating it.

'Booyah, that's one for the El Tee,' shouted Jacobs.

'One down over here too,' shouted Evans.

'Good to see your providing me a challenge today Evans. It'll make it more entertaining to see you scrubbing my bird.'

'Keep dreaming Jacobs,' retorted Evans over an explosion in the background. 'Oh, there's number 2 down. Keep up sir.'

'Cheeky bitch,' thought Jacobs as he chased down another pod, dodging debris from his first kill. This time the pod split down the middle, giving Jacobs a clear view at the contents of the pod as it was sucked out with the pressure. Jacobs caught a glimpse of a large, pointed head inside, silently screaming as its air supplies were sucked out. But the pod blew before Jacobs got a good look at it. The little that he has seen had scared him.

'Ok people, listen up. There is something in these pods, I don't know what it is but its not Elites or Brutes. If enough of these things make ground fall, all the marines on the planet wont be enough. Its up to us now.'

'You may have won the fight demon, but you have lost the war.' Said the Prophet of Truth, looking the Master Chief dead in the eye. 'You may kill me now, but even you will not be enough to save your kind from the forces of the covenant. Forces are landing on the surface as we speak, killing and burning. The Females, the children, all will fall before our mighty onslaught.'

The Master Chief eyed the prophet carefully from behind his visor, debating on how much the Prophet spoke was truth. He thought of Fred, Linda and Will. They would need him if they were to win this battle, if they were to defeat the forces soon to land on the surface.

'Your squad mates are out there aren't they.' Said the prophet, seemingly reading the Master Chief's thoughts. It was more a statement then a question. 'It's a shame you didn't stay in high charity any longer. You could have seen one of them. The flood will have him by now.'

A million thoughts raced through John's head, what was the prophet talking about? There were no other living Spartans except for Linda, Fred and Will. Unless Kelly had somehow been captured. But the prophet said 'him.'

'The flood will have consumed him by now. Unfortunate that I didn't get to execute him myself.' The Prophet looked up, acting as if he had just noticed the Spartan standing there. 'Why are you still here demon? Do you not have a Planet to defend?'

The Master Chief nodded at the Elite captain next to him.

'Watch him, ill be back when this is over.'

The Elite nodded.

'Run Demon, the Sharqoui come.'

At the same moment, Fred's voice came through his helmets speakers, a large explosion could be heard in the background.

'Sir we need backup down here ASAP. Bring all the help you can. We've got trouble. Lots of trouble.'


End file.
